The Laurieston Bar

The exterior of The Laurieston Bar, with its tiny patterned tiles and distinctive lettering, prepares us for what is in its way one of the most remarkable pub interiors in the UK.

Come inside and you will find a pub unchanged in décor and atmosphere since the 1960s, including a rare 1960s remodelling of an older island style bar. The public bar has fixed seating around the walls, a series of small screwed down, two tier Formica tables and contemporary low chairs. The boarded elongated oval bar counter with the suspended structure, is quintessentially 1960s. There’s even a heated glass food display unit on the counter that is still in use today for the provision of hot pies. The lounge is smarter and carpeted, unlike the boarded public bar, with more fixed seating, panelling and a number of bell pushes for table service.

‘a pub unchanged in décor and atmosphere since the 1960s’

Landlord James Clancy and his younger brother John have run the pub since 1982, although the pub itself dates from the nineteenth century. It was used as a location for the 2003 British film called Young Adam, which starred Ewan McGregor and Ewan filmed scenes here in the pub. The film is set in Scotland in 1954 and features a young man who works on the barges which operated on the River Clyde. The pub has also served as a backdrop for the music videos of the Fratellis’ Whistle for the Choir and Franz Ferdinand’s Darts of Pleasure.

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